Very concerned - biting

[juliette]

Well, we just returned from a long weekend at our friend's cottage. We go up to the cottage about once a month - a regular part of our routine. Well, this was Hijinx first trip ...and it didn't go so well.

We had warned our friends that she wasn't really housebroken, and sure enough we had a couple of accidents even tho we took her outside every hour. The real problem is this - by the middle of Saturday, she was barking, growling and aggressively going after our friends 10 year old son, Zac. She snapped at his ankles several times. I have been around Zac most of his life and he's a soft, gentle boy with animals, in fact his house has a dog and two cats. He knows to approach animals slowly and cautiously but with confidence, so I KNOW he didn't do anything to torment her - she just decided she didn't like him. He ended up being quite scared of her by the end of the evening.

On Saturday in the late afternoon, Zac's dad was petting Hijinx and as he was removing his hand to go do something else, she bit him quite severely on his thumb.

I am willing to accept anything out of my dogs, but not biting. HELP, I don't want to bring her back to the breeder, but I need some immediate advice on what to do with this issue or I will be forced to.

:crying:

[dutchman]

A few suggestions. First let NO become a reserved word used only to correct agressive behavior. Second invest in a gentle leader and any time she is around other people (or even you if she shows agression toward you) put her in it. Along with the gentle leader you will need to keep a leash on her when she is around other people. Learn and use the chin bop to correct agressive behavior. Mark does a better job of describing this technique than I do but I'll give it a shot. At the first sign of agressive behavior shoult a loud NO immedately followed by what could best be described as an uppercut to her lower jaw. You deliver this by making a fist with your hand you should tuck the thumb down along the outside of the other fingers and not have it sticking up. You will use the fleshy part of your fist the part between the thumb and index finger to delive a swift upward blow to the lower jaw of the dog. The blow shouldn't be so hard as to cause an injury to the dog but hard enough to clack it's jaws together. As my first trainer (a nationally known behaviorest) said don't worry if their tongue is out if it is you will get an even stronger impact. All of this needs to be done along with a good positive reinforcemnt training program.

Another good ideas is to start a general obedience class ASAP. A good trainer can help offer a lot of advice and the social aspect of the class can help work wonders.

We can't tell you keep or return the dog. That is a difficult decision. A lot depends on each individual and how they can cope and work with the dog. Progress may be slow or it might be quite rapid it's really hard to predict. Also what is any limitation on how public of a dog you have are you willing to live with? Some dogs just aren't able to cope with large groups of people or to much activity.

See if you can detect any warning signs in Hijinx behavior. Before Tanner will make a lunge at someone he will first freeze and a glassey eyed stare comes over his face. It may only be there for a second or it may last 10-15 seconds before he will try ti nip. When I first started working with him I didn't know how to read this so I had more close calls. It's time I start doing more public work with him again. It's been long enough he will be in his gentle leader again and I will have a hold of the loop right under his chin when I let people he doesn't know approach him. Dexter my latest boy was reported to be a bitter. So far he gets along fine with any adult he has meet. I haven't found the proper kids (work down from teens) yet to test him with. I suspect by the time I get down to kids in the 10-14 range he will be in a gentle leader and for sure he will be in it with any younger children we might end up woking with.

Frank is my only boy that I really feel I can trust with people of all ages. He has developed some dog agression issues he didn't have before he had brothers. Both Dexter and Tanner are dog agressive and Frank has learned that from them. I need to get him out solo among other dogs more so I can work on that one.

Good luck,

Tom and the boys (Frank, Tanner, and Dexter)

[Mark]

Hi Juliette,

Yes, I agree with Tom. The chin bop and the word NO should be reserved for aggressive behavior.

As Tom explained chin bop does not hurt the pupper and should be done with the fleshy circle atop the index finger when making a fist. Just hard enough to "clack" the teeth together really gets their attention.

It is likely that the anxiousness of being away from home and around strangers caused this "fear bite", but it can not be ignored . . . and the chin bop, the NO and the training are things that will likely ensure against a repeat.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

[Doxielover2]

I have a question that is somewhat related. My fiance and I and our two Doxies will be moving from Austin, TX to Sacramento, CA next week. The plan for when we first get there is for us to live with my mom and 5 brothers and sisters who range in age from 17 to 9. My biggest concern is how they will adjust to living with my mom and brothers and sisters. Since we have had them, they have just lived with the two of us. I have already told my mom that Roxy will bite if she's antagonized (sp?) She gets really stressed when she's around a lot of people. So, I need some tips on how to help them through the intial stress. They aren't crate trained, so I can't do that with them. Also, we have a 24 hour car ride ahead of us we won't be doing it all at once, but Jake doesn't do well in the car, he basically freaks out, he pants and salivates and runs around. I will be taking them to the vet on Saturday and I can ask the vet for a sedative, but I would rather try something more natural. I have tried calm down pills, but they don't work for my pups. Any and all suggestions welcome! Sorry so long :dizzy:

[dutchman]

Hi Doxielover2,

No suggestions for the trip but for the stay at your Mom's home here are a couple of ideas. First one and slightly more expensive invest in an x-pen that you can setup in any room. That would allow the dogs to be in the same room with people but keep everone safe. Second if you don't want to invest in an x-pen or can't afford one with all the moving expenses can you set aside a room that the dogs can have to themselves? You can close off that room with a baby gate. I know they won't be happy with that but it's better than risking somone getting bit. You can also purchase special pet gates but if you look at them and then look at the baby gates in the department stores you will see they are really the same gates just packaged differently with the pet gates costing much more than the baby gates. If they don't behave you may have to consider leashing them to you when they can't be in a confined area.

Good luck,

Tom and the boys (Frank, Tanner and Dexter)